Oh I was the guy at the front who asked that trainee ATCO first two or three questions btw! Was his name David? I can't remember.

Hehe, we should have pre-arranged a shout out for pprune folks and gone for a beer after!

I was 3rd row from the back, on the left table on the aisle side (opposite the rear door). Kept quiet in the ATCO Qs as having visited Swanwick last week I already had my Qs answered! :O

Yeah we shoulda done, I had to wait for nearly two hours after the tests to get my train. Hopefully i'll see you all in Stage 2!

I think his name was Chris. It looked like he hadn't done much public speaking before but he knew the answers to most of the questions. He seemed to still be enjoying it and was still keen which was the most important thing for me.

I was the guy 3 rows back on the left, behind you Lozzo87. Were you the guy that ATC didn't want talk to going from Leeds to Exeter or the guy to his right?

I was on the right. Can't beleive the guy next to me has been a pilot and he is only about 21-22 at most. Lucky guy! Yeah when Chris was asked if there was anything he didn't like about his job, he had a hard time thinking about anything to mention, which really made me optimistic. In the end he said pay wasn't too great to begin with, but that really doesn't bother me. As long as I can pay my bills and do a job I love, it's all good!

About the d/s/t questions, i see you're not allowed to use a calculator, are the numbers reasonably simple to work with? I don't fancy multiplying by anythin in decimals in my head!

One of my friend's brother got a PPL during his time at uni because there was some deal on with his uni. He was only 19-20 when he qualified. Unfortunately it's lapsed now because he can't afford to keep it up. :( It goes to show it's possible though.

I can see myself getting a PPL one day, assuming I make it through selection and into a job. I wouldn't want to do it as a career but I can see it being useful to understand how a pilot does their job and what I could do to make their job easier.

newb,

You can do them in your head. That said, one of my questions today was an answer that came out as a fraction, ie 1/3, which is just .33333333333. Easy to spot though. Just work back from 600 kts being 10 nm/m. Using that 450 kts is 7.5nm/m etc. Once you've cracked that I think the rest is quite easy.

newb, the s/d/t questions I got were nothing too taxing and really didn't need a calculator to work with. I had to use the paper to work out a couple but that's as tough as they got.

I would love to fly one day, it's just getting the money for lessons. It's always something i've been interested in. My uncle is a qualified pilot (im assuming its PPL because he's not a commercial pilot), and he has tonnes of literature on the subject, so i'm all set if I ever get the money to start learning.

I'll just sit here whistling innocently about being able to fly then...

(I have a CPL and am doing my Instructor rating at the moment... Did the ATPL theory exams, finishing last year... But then I am 28...)

Hi guys, just registered. I had my NATS test on 13rd @ London Hilton Tower Brigde, lovely hotel!
I am italian, I was on the first row just in front of the girls (the examiners) with a friend of mine.I was wearing a light blue cashemere sweater and a dark blu pair of jeans with an AirOne lanyard :ok:. I expected it to be worst.. I liked it, I was very concentrated and I hope I made my best! I am really into control! I love IVAO, I often control on EGLL_S/N_TWR and that's great!

Anyone received an email?

Cheers!

This is becoming a habit...

Lozzo 87 & JonathanB: The video is on the NATS careers website - something like 'Life at the College'. You haven't missed anything if you watch it online.

Lozzo87: The personality questionnaire is now online and only sent to candidates who reach a certain level in their Stage 1 tests held at either Glasgow, Manchester or London.

Marco888: You get a choice of locations for Stage 3 but it may involve waiting a while until dates come up on the system. Choices are London, Manchester, Swanwick and Glasgow. I think there might be a couple of other possibilities, but someone else might be able to remember those ones!

That's what I thought - Well it says so on the email. But I phoned HR yesterday and was told only Swanwick now.

However she may have been confused because that's the new rule for stage 1. Although HR seem to have been up to date with everything so far...

The news ticker in the application system is also currently announcing that they will not be paying any expenses for Stage 2 tests in May, in addition to that as of April all Stage 1 tests will be in Hampshire at the HQ (CTC, Whiteley I assume).

Well, just heard I failed my stage 2... such is life.

Thanks for the help on here guys & good luck to those of you who are going through it!

Bad luck. :(

Did you get any feedback from them?

Nothing on the e-mail... perhaps it's worth giving them a bell...

ANDREA_CTA,
I can barely remember what I was wearing on the 13th let alone anyone else!

I haven't heard either, all in good time I guess. Good luck!

Stage 1 Experience
 

Hi all,

Had my stage 1 yesterday afternoon. Not sure how many groups there were, but mine was headed by the older lady. She did mention that over 100 places were confirmned, but many hadn't turned up. Our group (all guys, 17-20 in total) was, for me anyway, quite surprisingly boring, like hardly anyone spoke to anyone, and when we left, everyone just shot out!

We had the motivational paper, followed by the checking paper. I forgot how long we had for each but its if I remember correctly it was 5 mins for each. In both tests we were told not to use the scrap paper, but it was left on the table :confused: so I guess you could use if you wanted albeit in a secretive way. Some questions related to distances between cities, both within the UK and International. Also had 2 questions regarding what a 737 and a 777 would be used for, i.e domestic short haul, intercontinental etc.

You're given 2 pencils and an eraser. Make sure you completely fill the circles of the answer paper, however I found it wasted my time checking to see if I'd filled them in heavily enough. Then had the ATCO come along and give us a short description of his role and his experiences. Nice chap, not a seasoned speaker but gave all the info that was asked of him, and when he began to struggle, the older lady intervened and asked him other questions related to life as an ATCO. He did mention that he's on the Area Control career path, and that this path is more intense as it involves more studying and the course for him is longer. He also mentioned that in his 3rd stage he was honest in admitting that he didn't know much about aviation in general but he had started to develop an appreciation for ATC. He entered NATS in 2007.

Then followed a 15 minute break, again everyone seemed very relectant to say anything and it felt errily quite whislt enjoying those yummy bics! Only guys I spoke to was from Southhampton and east London.

Back into the room, time for the dreaded CUBES :\ Blimmey gave me teeth itch, didn't even finsh the questions. Completed the tests with the diagramic reasoning, and yet again found that time had beat me. We had no video and no personality questionaire. Although the email suggested we would leave by 17:30, we actually finshed by 16:30.

Also someone mentioned in previous posts about attire - in my opinion it seemed there was a split between smartly dressed candidates and those in jeans, so its your choice really.

Lastly we were asked to sign a letter stating that if are employed with NATS, we would expect employment at Swanwick or in Southern England, and that employment up north is very limited.

All the best for those who took came along yesterday :)

Quick question
 

Hey guys

I know most of you know im still 17 and 18 next month but i was wondering a few things if you wouldnt mind answering them:

1) when you apply online for the course, what type of questions are asked on the application letter online?
2) Do you need a CV before you apply (i have made one but i need to add a few things to it.
3) After you apply how long do you have to wait before they invite you to stage 1
4) Does everyone that applies get to stage 1 or can you fail for applying (which i will probably end up doing lol):{:{

Thanks for reading this and hopefully someone will reply;)